November 2018

Bask in Your Self-Gratitude

I used to love a Saturday Night Live skit called Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley. In these few minutes of ridiculousness, Stuart looks into a mirror and tells himself "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” It was hilarious, and his daily affirmation is so silly, but my man Stuart had the right idea. We are approaching the season where the main objective of our days and actions are showing the people around us our gratitude for them through gifts ,parties and displays of thanks. But I (and Stuart) have realized that, along with the ability to share love, in order to truly show gratitude, we need to have gratitude for ourselves.

Giving thanks for the gifts we have and realizing we can utilize them to help ourselves along the way and express gratitude for all of the experiences in our lives, both good and bad. These experiences teach us lessons of joy and perseverance that we will carry with us for a lifetime. We can also recognize loss as lesson of gratitude, as it can lead us on a new path or adventure that we may have never known existed. And yes, in all this gratitude we must acknowledge our family and friends for all of the love that they bestow upon us. We all deserve to love and appreciation, and should feel grateful for every ounce of it all, and that includes having love and gratitude for ourselves And let me (and Stuart Smalley) tell you something: you are more than enough, just how you are, and the world is lucky to have you. xo, Ali Alloway